22 October 2001
Transcript: Powell Remarks October 21 in Interview on Fox News Sunday Show
(Pleased by APEC statement, China's support of war against terrorism)
(1990)
The United States is very pleased with China's support for the war
against terrorism and by the joint statement against terrorism that
was issued by leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
meeting, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview October
21 with Tony Snow of Fox News Sunday.
APEC leaders came down "strongly on the side of the coalition against
terrorism" in their joint statement, Powell said. He spoke from
Shanghai where he had been attending the APEC meeting and where he and
President Bush had met with China's top leaders.
In the interview Powell also discussed the U.S. military campaign
against al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, his vision of
a post-Taliban government there, the role of Egypt and Saudi Arabia in
the war against terrorism, and the importance to the United States of
the international anti-terrorist coalition.
Following is the transcript as released by the State Department:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 21, 2001
INTERVIEW
Secretary Of State Colin L. Powell
On Fox News Sunday with Tony Snow
October 21, 2001
(Aired 9:15 a.m. EDT)
MR. SNOW: Now joining us from Shanghai, China, Secretary of State
Colin Powell. Secretary Powell, the President has been meeting with
Asian leaders this week, especially talking with China about possible
cooperation in Operation Enduring Freedom. Can China help us with
intelligence?
SECRETARY POWELL: We hope so, and we had good conversations with the
Chinese leadership. And the President, in his first meeting with the
president of China, I think hit it off very well. A good relation was
formed.
And I think that in the weeks and months ahead we can look at
intelligence cooperation, financial activities -- all sorts of things.
The Chinese were supportive, and we are very pleased with their
support, as well as the joint statement that was provided by the APEC
leaders coming down strongly on the side of the coalition against
terrorism.
MR. SNOW: You mentioned financial activities. Do we suspect that
al-Qaida has been doing some banking operations through China?
SECRETARY POWELL: I don't have any knowledge of that, but I am sure
that our intelligence agencies, if they do have information of that
kind, will make it available to the Chinese. And the level of
cooperation that I have seen from them so far in my conversations with
Foreign Minister Teng and in the President's conversations with
President Jiang Zemin, I think they would be responsive.
MR. SNOW: There is some ongoing debate here in the States, you are
well aware of, that some people think that we are spending more time
maintaining a coalition than running a war. Can we work with the
coalition? Is the coalition ready now to say to the United States,
"Okay, go ahead, do what you need to do to bring down the Taliban," if
that's what it requires?
SECRETARY POWELL: Nothing in the coalition, no aspect of the
coalition, keeps the American President from doing what he feels he
has to do to go after al-Qaida and to deal with the Taliban. But his
efforts are so magnified by the presence of a coalition. This is a
coalition that came together to go after this common enemy, terrorism.
And the suggestion that somehow the coalition keeps us from doing what
we want to do is just absolutely wrong.
Quite the contrary. Without this coalition, we wouldn't be able to do
what we are doing. We wouldn't be getting the support from the Central
Asian nations. We wouldn't be getting the support from the United
Nations, the United Kingdom. Everybody has come together for this
common goal. And so "coalition," in this sense, is a good word, and to
suggest that somehow it is in competition with what the President
wants to do is simply a misreading of reality.
MR. SNOW: We want the Northern Alliance to be part of a coalition
government within Afghanistan; we do not want them to be the dominant
partner, correct?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think that's a fair statement. They are a minority
group, and I think if we want a stable Afghanistan, all parts of
Afghan society and the Afghan political spectrum have to be
represented, and the Northern Alliance would have to be represented.
It would be an important part of that new government. But at about 15
percent of the population, I don't even think they think that they are
in a position at this time to be the dominant figure. They would
certainly be an important part of the post-Taliban government.
MR. SNOW: The Pashtun are the largest ethnic group in the country.
Also, they have close ties with Pakistan. Can Pakistan help us
persuade the Pashtun to play a more active role in trying to form a
post-Taliban coalition?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think they can, and I think the Pakistanis are
being helpful now. I had good conversations with President Musharraf,
and he understands now that the Taliban -- its days are numbered, and
we have to start looking toward the future. And we talked about that.
And as you know, Ambassador Richard Haass on my staff is now working
with the United Nations and other nations who have an interest in this
to see what kind of an arrangement can and should be worked out to
deal with the post-Taliban era.
MR. SNOW: There are reports that the United Nations may request a
cessation of bombing right now because it is hampering humanitarian
efforts within Afghanistan. If the United Nations were to make that
request, what would the American reply be?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am not aware of any such request, and we have been
conducting our military campaign in a way that it would not interfere
with humanitarian efforts. We are constantly reviewing this. And as
you know, our airplanes are providing humanitarian air drops and we
are working hard to get truck convoys in because that's how you get
the heavy tonnages in. And we are trying to do it and, at the same
time, conduct a military operation.
So we do not have such a request. The reports are mixed as to how much
food is getting in, and when I get back to Washington this is one of
the first things I'll be looking at. Because this war is not against
the Afghan people. We have to prepare them for the winter that is just
a few weeks away, and we will be making every effort to do that.
MR. SNOW: As winter approaches, is it important for us to achieve such
strategic goals as taking Kabul, or even Kandahar, before the onset of
winter?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it would be in our interest and the interest
of the coalition to see this matter resolved before winter strikes and
it makes our operations that much more difficult. The actual seizure
of land and which cities might be the right ones to cause that to come
about, I'm not sure. But certainly the Northern Alliance is on the
march in the north toward Mazer-e-Sharif, and I think they are
gathering their strength to at least invest Kabul or start moving on
Kabul more aggressively.
MR. SNOW: There has been talk also of ceasing operations or slowing
them down during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan. Good idea, bad
idea?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we have to be respectful of that very, very
significant religious period, but, at the same time, we also have to
make sure we pursue our campaign. So I will yield to my Pentagon
colleagues as to what might be required if we are still in this kind
of a military campaign mode when Ramadan approaches in the middle of
November.
MR. SNOW: You are a military man. It sounds to me like what you are
saying, even though you are now Secretary of State, from a military
point of view, you can't really cease hostilities at that point.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I think it depends. It depends on what more
has to be done, what the military operation looks like at that point.
So I don't want to speculate on what we might be ready to do at the
middle of November. And it's best that I remember that I am Secretary
of State and no longer wearing the uniform, and not speculate on what
my military colleagues are thinking or what Don Rumsfeld is thinking
over in the Pentagon.
MR. SNOW: Senator John McCain is saying he is a little unhappy right
now with the roles of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He says they are playing
both ends of it. On the one hand, they permit mullahs and Islamic
Muslim speakers to issue anti-American diatribes weekly; on the other
hand, they say from time to time, "No, no, no, we're really with you."
Is it important for the United States to say to both of those nations,
especially on the propaganda front -- that is, the kinds of discourse
they're permitting -- to say, "You need to be with us"?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, they are with us. I mean, both Egypt and Saudi
Arabia have responded to every request we have made of them. Saudi
Arabia was especially helpful just a few days ago when they held the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, and 56 Islamic nations came to
the support of the coalition by condemning terrorism. And Saudi Arabia
played an important role in achieving that outcome. So they are being
responsive.
At the same time, they do have public opinions. They have people
within those two countries who are not happy with what we are doing.
And I think it's a little odd for us to say to them, "You have to
muzzle dissent, you have to muzzle those who are speaking out against
us." I think if we want them to be the kind of nations and lands that
we preach about, we have to expect that if there is another point of
view within that country that differs from the official point of view
of the government, you have to give it the opportunity to be
expressed.
MR. SNOW: Secretary Powell, the President met with his Russian
counterpart today. Is American policy on the ABM Treaty unchanged,
which is to say that we are prepared within the next six months to
begin testing technologies that may, in fact, require us to abrogate
the Treaty?
SECRETARY POWELL: I don't think that is yet American policy, Tony.
What the President has said all along, and what he said again to
President Putin this evening, was that the ABM Treaty is a relic of
the past; we need to move beyond it.
I was pleased that President Putin responded that we are in a new era,
and there are some new ideas on the table, there are some new
parameters we should be looking at. And Foreign Minister Ivanov and I,
and Donald Rumsfeld and his counterpart, Defense Minister Sergey
Ivanov, will be working hard in the weeks ahead approaching Crawford
when President Putin visits with President Bush again, and beyond
Crawford to see how we can move forward.
President Bush has made it clear, however, that in due course, if we
aren't able to get an agreement that will allow us to move forward in
a new framework, he is prepared to unilaterally withdraw from the
Treaty because he is determined to move forward with missile defenses.
And he has said that to President Putin from the first day they met.
MR. SNOW: Secretary of State Colin Powell, thanks for joining us.
SECRETARY POWELL: You're welcome, Tony.
(end State Department transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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